Karen Connelly
Karen Marie Connelly (born March 12, 1969) is a Canadian poet and prose writer who has written extensively about her experiences travelling and living in Europe and Asia.Colin Boyd, Karen Marie Connelly, Canadian Encyclopedia, August 27, 2008, Historica Canada. Web, Apr. 3, 2017. Life Connelly was born in Calgary, Alberta. At 17, she lived in a Thai village thanks to a Rotary exchange scholarship. She returned to Canada a year later. At 19, she left for Spain, where she lived almost two years. Having no work visa, she supported herself by, among other things, teaching English as a second language. In her spare time, she wrote about her experiences and took photographs with which to illustrate her writing. In 1991, she moved to France and settled in Montclar, Avignon, where she studied French and Spanish. Soon after, she traveled to Greece, spending most of her time on the island of Lesbos, to which she has occasionally returned. She then moved back to Canada for an extended period, writing and promoting her work. Her earliest book was a poetry collection, The Small Words in My Body (1990). Her next book, Touch the Dragon: A Thai journal (1992), reworked the letters and journals that she had written in Thailand. 3 poetry collections followed, This Brighter Prison (1993) The Disorder of Love (1997) and The Border Surrounds Us (2000). She also compiled a 2nd book of letters, One Room in a Castle, detailing her experiences in Europe. In 1996, she returned to Thailand and also went to Myanmar (she prefers the older name, Burma) seeking material for another book. Her experiences there served as the basis for her novel about a political prisoner,The Lizard Cage. ''She stayed in Thailand for 2 years before returning to Canada, where she married. She lives in Toronto, where she teaches at Humber College. She is a popular speaker at national and international literary festivals. Writing She explores themes of travel, cultural estrangement and language in her poetry and prose. Recognition Connelly's debut poetry collection, ''The Small Words in My Body, won the Pat Lowther Award for poetry in 1991.Kren Connelly, Writers Online, Brown University. Web, Apr. 2, 2017. Touch the Dragon: A Thai journal – an account of the year she spent in Thailand at 17 – won the Governor General's Award for English language non-fiction in 1993; at 24, Connelly was the youngest writer ever to win that prize. her debut novel, The Lizard Cage, won the Orange Broadband Prize for New Writers,Canadians win at Orange Prize gala, CBC News, June 6, 2007. Web, Apr. 3, 2017. and was shortlisted for both the Kiriyama Prize for Fiction and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Publications Poetry *''The Small Words in My Body''. Toronto: Kaleyard Books, 1995. *''This Brighter Prison: A Book of Journeys''. London, ON: Brick Books, 1993. *''The Disorder of Love''. Toronto & New York: Gutter Press, 1997. *''The Border Surrounds Us''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2000. *''Grace and Poison'' (The Small Words in My Body & The Disorder of Love with a new preface). Winnipeg, MB: Turnstone Press, 2001. Novel *''The Lizard Cage''. New York: Nan A. Talese, 2007 Non-fiction *''Touch the Dragon: A Thai journal''. Winnipeg, MB: Turnstone Press, 1992Touch the Dragon," Indigo, Chapters Inc., Web, July 5, 2012. * Dream of a Thousand Lives: A sojourn in Thailand. Seattle, WA : Seal Press, 2001. *''One Room in a Castle: Letters from Spain, France, and Greece''. Winnipeg, NB: Turnstone Press, 1995; London: Black Swan, 1997. *''Burmese Lessons: A true love story''. Toronto: Random House Canada, 2009; New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results=Karen Connelly, WorldCat, Web, July 5, 2012. See also *List of Canadian poets References Notes External links ;Poems *"Oh Canada (as sung on Vancouver Island)" *"The Streets of Purple Cloth" ;Audio / video *Karen Connelly at YouTube *[http://thecommentary.ca/ontheline/408-karen-connelly/ Audio interview about Burmese Lessons (2009)] ;Books *Karen Connelly at Amazon.com ;About *Karen Marie Connelly in the Canadian Encyclopedia *Karen Connelly at Writers Online * The Artistic Struggle: An Interview with Karen Connolly, 2004 Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian novelists Category:Canadian people of Irish descent Category:Canadian poets Category:Canadian women writers Category:English as a Second Language teachers Category:Governor General's Award winning non-fiction writers Category:People from Calgary